This Sunday is Super Bowl LII, a time when those of you who never watch football wind up at your boss’s house for his or her Super Bowl party. It is for you that we put out this blog post giving you some pointers on watching the Super Bowl, along with some trivia that maybe could win you a few well-timed bets. Bets for entertainment purposes only, of course.

This year, the New England Patriots are back (yet) again, to play the Philadelphia Eagles on February 4, 2018 at US Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

A touch of Super Bowl history at your fingertips

• The first championship game between the upstart American Football League (AFL) and the established National Football League (NFL) took place January 15, 1967. The NFL’s Green Bay Packers beat the AFL champion, Kansas City Chiefs, 35-10. However, the game wouldn’t get its iconic name until two years later.
• The name, “Super Bowl,” wasn’t used until 1969 during the third championship game between the AFL and NFL. The AFL’s New York Jets and their rock star quarterback, Joe Namath, beat the NFL’s Baltimore Colts 16-7, and set the wheels in motion for the eventual merger between the two leagues a year later. It was also during this game that the leagues decided to use Roman Numerals to designate each game, a practice still used today.
• Lamar Hunt, the founder of the AFL and owner of the Kansas City Chiefs, coined the name “Super Bowl” while watching his young son play with his bouncy rubber “Super Ball”
• Lowest Winning Score—January 14, 1973 – Lowest scoring winner – Miami Dolphins 14, Washington Redskins 7 – Super Bowl VII, at the Memorial Coliseum in Los Angeles.
• Highest Winning Score—January 28, 1990 – Highest scoring winner – San Francisco 49ers, 55, Denver Broncos, 10 – Super Bowl XXIV, at the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans. This was also the largest margin of victory to date.
• Most Played—New England Patriots, 9.
• Fewest Played—Cleveland Browns, Detroit Lions, Houston Texans and Jacksonville Jaguars, 0.
• Most Wins—Pittsburgh Steelers, 6. The Patriots have a 5-4 record in the Super Bowl, but could tie Pittsburgh with a win over the Eagles.
• Most Losses—Denver Broncos, 5.
• The NFL pays for up to 150 rings at $5,000 per ring for the winners. Teams cover the costs over $5,000. The most expensive Super Bowl ring made so far was New England’s 2015 bauble which reportedly cost $36,500 each.
• The NFL also pays for 150 pieces of jewelry for the losing team, which may not cost more than half the price set for the Super Bowl ring.
• The Vince Lombardi Trophy for the winner is made from sterling silver by Tiffany & Co, takes four months to make and costs a cool $50,000. No wonder everyone clutches it so tightly!

Super Bowl gambling

The Super Bowl is the ultimate betting event. And don’t think they’re only bets on who wins, loses or how many points are scored. One of the fun parts of betting on the Super Bowl are the so-called “prop bets.” You can bet on the over/under on how long Pink will take to sing the National Anthem, who scores the first touchdown, or who gets the first quarterback sack. There are nearly 1,000 prop bets at the William Hill sports book like who wins the coin toss or obscure ones like what will be larger: the Boston Celtics’ Kyrie Irving’s points on Sunday for the NBA game versus Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski’s longest reception? Brady is the Super Bowl MVP favorite at 8/5 odds. As for the game itself, the Patriots are five-point favorites with the over/under at 48-½ total points.

Fans bet a record $138.5 million on Super Bowl 51 at Nevada sports books. The house won as usual with Vegas netting $10.9 million. Las Vegas has lost money on only two Super Bowls over the past quarter-century. Betting in Vegas is a drop in the bucket of the total gambling pool with the American Gaming Association estimating $4.5 billion was wagered illegally on the game last year.

Super Bowl commercials

• A 30-second commercial during the first championship game cost $42,000 which translates into $301,000 today. A 30-second commercial during this year’s game starts at $5 million and could go higher, depending on its placement during the game.
• The most money ever spent on a single ad was the $12.4 million Chrysler spent on their 2011 “Imported from Detroit”two-minute commercial. Some people criticized Chrysler for spending that much on a single ad. However, Chrysler’s sales shot up 50 percent, and Detroit got a welcome boost in morale and image across the country.
• With a few exceptions, Super Bowl commercials went generally unnoticed until the groundbreaking “Big Brother” spot during the 1984 Super Bowl for Apple’s Macintosh computer. Many Madison Avenue executives believe this spot revolutionized the ad industry. In fact, it’s still studied in collegiate marketing classes even today. Despite being the most recognized and memorable TV ads ever made, the spot ran just the one time.

 

Super Bowl food

Super Bowl Sunday is the second-highest food consumption day of the year in America behind Thanksgiving. Experts estimate that Americans consume 325.5 million gallons of beer and 1.25 billion chicken wings during the Super Bowl.

According to the Daily Meal, these are the ten most popular Super Bowl party foods ranked from tenth-place to first:

10. Potato Skins

9. Jalapeno Poppers

8. Pigs in a Blanket

7. Deviled Eggs

6. Pulled Pork sandwiches

5. Guacamole

4. Nachos

3. Chicken Wings

2. Chili

And the #1 favorite Super Bowl food is … PIZZA!

 

So there is your guide to the Super Bowl you can use to impress someone at your boss’ party. Just remember to not bet your boss on your new-found knowledge because, like the New England Patriots, bosses hate to lose.